Tales from the Dugout by Mike Shannon

Author:Mike Shannon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: McGraw Hill LLC
Published: 1997-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

After pitching for the Detroit Tigers in 1968, Jon Warden hurt his arm during the following spring training and spent 1969 pitching in the minor leagues for the Omaha Royals of the Triple A American Association. That Omaha team was stocked with former major leaguers, including one Bill Faul, a short, right-handed pitcher who’d had cups of coffee with the Tigers, Cubs, and Giants.

“Faul was a little guy who was built like a fireplug,” says Warden, “but, boy, did he have an arm. He could really throw.

“Our manager that year was Jack McKeon. Jack was a funny guy and a great guy to play for, but for some reason Faul hated him, just couldn’t stand him.

“We had a 17-game road trip that year because they were playing the College World Series in Omaha. This was before they started regional tournaments. They brought all the teams in and played the whole thing in Omaha over a two-week period.

“We were boarding the bus that would take us to the airport for the start of this long road trip. Although he’d put his suitcase on the bus, Faul wasn’t on the bus yet. Dave Nicholson, a big, free-swinging outfielder, took Faul’s suitcase down out of the overhead luggage rack and said, ‘Let’s see what Bill’s taking on the road trip with him.’

“Nicholson was curious because we thought Faul was kind of a weirdo. Bill hypnotized himself before games, and he never wanted to take a shower. He said that too much water was bad for the body, that your natural oils would cleanse your skin.

“So Nicholson opened Faul’s suitcase, and what we saw inside was one pair of pants, one shirt, one pair of underwear, a shaving kit—for a 17-game road trip, mind you—and a .357 Magnum in a holster with a box of shells. That’s what he packed for 17 days. Everyone went, ‘Holy smoke!’ Nicholson closed the suitcase, and off we went.

“We played a series in Tulsa and then went into Des Moines, where it had been raining. One of our pitchers, Chris Zachary, had gone out with this real pretty girl in Tulsa, and Faul decided he wanted to date her too. He told Zachary, ‘Hey, man, that chick was out of sight. If you give me her phone number, I’ll do anything.’

“Zachary said, ‘You’ll do anything?’

“Faul said, ‘Yeah, yeah. I’ll do anything.’

“Zachary looked down and saw a toad jumping around. He bent down, picked it up, and said, ‘How about eating this toad?’

“Faul frowned and sighed but then said, ‘Yeah, I’ll do it.’

“Faul wanted the toad washed off first before he ate it, so we got a paper cup, filled it with water out of a mud hole, and put the toad in to wash it off. Faul took the toad, gathered himself for a couple of seconds, then said, ‘OK, here we go.’ He popped the whole toad into his mouth and started chewing. He was making these crunching sounds just as if he were eating a mouthful of Doritos.

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